Heart and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts made their final 2015 tour stop together a mostly memorable one, cranking out driving rock hits for a happily nostalgic crowd at Van Andel Arena. (Review, photo gallery)
Crazy On Heart: Fans at Van Andel Arena warmly embraced Ann Wilson and Heart on Saturday night. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
As Ann Wilson put it on Saturday night, midway through Heart’s set in front of several thousand gleeful fans at Van Andel Arena, “In the ’70s, there weren’t really any women in rock ‘n’ roll. Women were in the basement and the garage trying to get it right.”
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Rock ‘n’ Roll Leather: Joan Jett (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
So, there’s little doubting the impact that highly successful female-fronted rock bands such as Heart and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts have since had on generations of artists who’ve followed them.
And it’s also apropos that these two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acts would be paired together on a national tour that made a stop Saturday in Grand Rapids, their final night together.
For Grand Rapids singer and guitarist Robin Spring, a member of acoustic classic rock’s The Trace Duo, Heart was a true influence on her development as a musician, from the way the band rocked to the way they mastered harmony vocals.
“In a male-dominated field, female rockers like Ann and Nancy Wilson are an inspiration. They write songs from a female perspective that resonate with women,” Spring told Local Spins.
“Ann has the most amazing rock voice of all time and still does. Nancy plays a mean guitar, and that is so helpful for young women to witness. Girls need positive role models. I have always gravitated toward female-fronted bands, especially ones that feature women guitar players.”
A CAVALCADE OF HITS FROM ‘MAGIC MAN’ TO ‘BARRACUDA’
Plenty of fans of both sexes on Saturday celebrated Heart’s success as unassailable hit-makers — from “Magic Man” (1976) which kicked off the evening, to “Crazy On You” (1976) and “Barracuda” (1977), which wrapped up the band’s main set as the highlight of the group’s performance (with Nancy Wilson finally showing off her guitar chops). The band even covered Led Zeppelin during the encore, launching first into “Immigrant Song.”
Sister Rockers: Nancy Wilson, left, with Ann Wilson. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
And as “amazing” as Ann Wilson’s voice still seems to be at age 64 (though it certainly could have been cranked a bit higher in the sound mix) and as happy as the band made its wistful fans feel with crisp, enthused renditions of favorites like “Heartless,” “Kick It Out” and “What About Love,” Jett and her bandmates may have provided the evening’s most intriguing, most energizing moments.
Jett’s hour-long set of punk-fueled anthems (including the Gary Glitter cover “Do You Wannna Touch Me” and The Runaways’ “You Drive Me Wild”) oozed a primal energy that hasn’t ebbed over the years, with the band unleashing aggressive, powerful riffs over no-frills lyrics that the crowd couldn’t help but repeat with vigor.
STANDING THE TEST OF TIME
The wonderfully raspy singer-guitarist’s set was all black leather and fist-pumping fun, whether cranking out a relatively new tune (2013’s “TMI”) or hammering home crowd favorites such as her signature “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” the band’s classic cover of Tommy James & The Shondells “Crimson & Clover,” and 1987’s “I Hate Myself for Loving You.”
Jett on stage at Van Andel Arena. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Both bands proved to be incredibly proficient and spirited in giving fans what they came to see and hear.
Inevitably, there will come a time when the rock era’s venerable music icons — from The Rolling Stones to Paul McCartney to Aerosmith — will have to pack away their amps and call it a day, due to the physical rigors of this thing called rock ‘n’ roll.
But until then, there’s nostalgic comfort that the baby boomer generation finds in embracing the influential music of that era, and in acknowledging the role that Heart and Joan Jett have played in inspiring other musicians.
“Heart has stood the test of time,” Spring said. “They show that women of all ages rock, and I’m glad about that.”
HEART, JOAN JETT: THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY BY ANTHONY NORKUS
Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC
Terrible concert by Heart. This show was a over-amplified duet by a mediocre bass guitar player and drummer. The Wilson sisters were basically backup noise, screeching to be heard over the train-wreck of a sound system. The light show was enough to induce seizures. My wife and I walked out after about six songs.
Fortunately, Joan Jett was still pretty good, for a 50 something punk 😉
Heart was actually awesome — it was the mixing that could have been better.
Luckily I was near the front right in front of Ann Wilson so I could actually hear her vocals — which were as impressive as I’ve ever heard live, especially considering (but not because) she is in her mid 60s. I think what I walked away from the show with is a firm belief that Ann Wilson is the best rock vocalist currently active, male or female. And “Alone” was phenomenal thought I would have preferred it to be plugged in like the original.
Joan Jett was really good too, though admittedly I’ve always felt like her songs were more novelty than serious rock. Hard rock and metal usually has some dark mystery (like Barracuda, Magic Man, etc) whereas Jett’s music is either cliche’ (I Love Rock and Roll) or remake (Crimson and Clover).
In spite of the sound mix, this was a great rock show and Heart rocked as hard as I’ve ever heard them, crossing the metal barrier a number of times. This wasn’t a show I was real excited about initially (I was somewhat dragged to the show by my girlfriend) but I came away a much bigger Heart fan than I’ve ever been.
Great concert. Whoever handles the audio should be redirected to cleaning stalls at the local bus station. Murky, muddy, overpowering bass/drums etc. Heart couldn’t have been better and hasn’t seemed to have lost anything over the years, just wished I could have heard all that was going on. Not as familiar with Jett but it was a power driven performance. From the get go you could tell that these were two bands that had earned their chops a long time ago and hadn’t lost a thing.
The main mikes were terrible. Could barely hear Ann. Really enjoyed Alone when I could hear her really sing. She still sounds great! The encore was disappointing. 2 Plant songs when there were more Heart songs to be played. Would love to see them in an unplugged setting.
Great Review, the sound mix for Heart was horrible??!?! The Vocals were so low you could barely make them out half the time. Nancy was almost inaudible. We were at the same show?
I did mention that Ann’s vocals were under-mixed, though I also should point out that some of that can depend on where you’re sitting in the arena. And I certainly agree wholeheartedly about Jett. She still brings it.
Agree with everyone’s comments. The sound was terrible, fortunately you could hear bits and pieces where you could tell it was not the talent of Ann and Nancy that was lacking just the skills of who was running the sound.
The fans and Heart deserve better. Maybe they can look for a new mixer with their time off!
Sorry to hear the sound was bad at concert. Concert was awesome! Saw concert at The Palace & it is me & my husband’s first time seeing Heart. We were like a kid on Christmas day! We just LOVE them! Beautiful & Talented Women!! Forever Fans of Heart!!!
Bad sound mix. I thought it was just me because we were closer to the guitar amp. On many songs the vocals barely came through.
I thought both bands were very good. I’m not a big fan of Heart’s power ballad phase but even those sounded good live.
Joan Jett still rocks. Nothing fancy, just straight ahead rock.
Great show !!! Joan Jett does what she was born to do ROCK !!! Heart was killer, too !!